An estimated 3,002 babies will be born in Vietnam on New Year’s Day, according to UNICEF.
Illustrative photo.
According to a press release sent on December 31 by UNICEF, Fiji in the Pacific will welcome 2021’s first baby on January 1. The United States, its last. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in 10 countries: India (59,995), China (35,615), Nigeria (21,439), Pakistan (14,161), Indonesia (12,336), Ethiopia (12,006), the United States (10,312), Egypt (9,455), Bangladesh (9,236), and Democratic Republic of the Congo (8,640).
Vietnamese babies will account for 0.8 per cent of the estimated 371,504 babies to be born on New Year’s Day.
In their press release, UNICEF also expressed concerns with the high rate of sex ratio imbalance at birth in Vietnam, with 111.5 boys per 100 girls, according to the 2019 Population and Housing Census.
According to UNICEF, the practice of sex selection is recognised as gender-based violence, ending a girl’s life before she is born. Vietnam was listed among the three countries with the highest rate of sex ratio imbalance at birth, behind China and India.
“This has been a difficult year for all of us, and there is perhaps no better way to turn the page than to welcome new young lives into the world,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam. “With the challenges of 2020 behind us, and the opportunities of 2021 before us, now is the time to begin to build a better world. Every girl and boy born today will inherit the world we begin to build for them."
